Dish has once again upgraded its Hopper whole-home DVR system. Last year's upgrade added Sling-powered place-shifting, letting you watch Dish programming outside of the house. The new Hopper 3 brings ultra high-definition (UHD, or 4K) support. It also more than doubles the number of tuners in the box to 16, adds a fantastic full-screen four-channel multi-view Sports Bar mode, and features a redesigned, slimmer remote. There isn't a whole lot of 4K content to watch on the $350 box just yet, but considering it's available as a free upgrade for qualifying Dish subscribers when coupled with a $15 monthly whole-home DVR fee (the same as the previous Hopper), it's a no-brainer upgrade for future-proofing your Dish service. If you don't want to commit to satellite, the Tivo Bolt is an impressively functional DVR and tuner that can work with over-the-air and cable service.

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DesignThe Hopper 3 looks like a slight redesign of the Hopper With Sling. Its 2.1-by-16-by-11.4-inch (HWD) black frame is similar in size, but with flatter sides and a bright red band that runs around the front panel as an accent. The front panel is glossy black plastic with a flip-down door on the left half that reveals a variety of controls, and a USB 2.0 port on the right half. The CableCARD slot now sits on the left side of the box. The back panel holds a plethora of connections, including HDMI, component, and composite video outputs, an optical audio output, two USB 3.0 ports, two Ethernet ports, a phone port, a coaxial Jack for the satellite connection, a coaxial jack for the remote control radio antenna, and a power connector.

Dish heavily redesigned the Hopper 3's remote, while retaining most of its layout and functionality. Like the larger, old remote, the new remote uses a radio connection to the Hopper, so you don't need to have a line of sight with the box; I could consistently control the Hopper 3 with my hands behind my back, pressing buttons.

The new remote is much flatter than the previous chunky, button-filled wand, measuring 6.3 by 1.9 by 0.8 inches with a red band around the edge and rectangular plastic buttons that barely jut up above the surface. The square navigation pad dominates the top half, just like the rounder navigation pad of the previous version. Various menu buttons including Apps, DVR, Home, and Power sit above the pad, and playback controls, volume and channel rockers, and a number pad sit below. Aux, Input, Sat, and TV buttons sit on the left edge of the remote, offering quick switches between controlling the Hopper 3 and any compatible connected devices. The Input button also switches between the currently active tuners.

Tuners and 4KThe Hopper 3 now features an impressive 16 individual tuners, more than doubling the previous Hopper's number even with the tuner-expanding (and now unnecessary) Super Joey installed. That means you can tune into or record from 16 different channels at once, hopefully eliminating once and for all any need to prioritize family members' favorite shows.

The box also supports 4K resolution, and will presumably be able to display 4K streams as soon as satellite channels support them. For now, however, your 4K content is limited to a selection of films available on demand through Dish and on Netflix. I loaded the 4K version of The Amazing Spider-Man on the Hopper 3 and it played in the proper resolution.

New Interface and AppsDish overhauled the Hopper 3's on-screen interface to add several new features. The basics, like the program guide and DVR controls, remain similar to past iterations, but a new pop-up Apps menu offers easy access to new functionality. There are various social networking apps, including a Facebook client and a separate Social overlay that lets you chat with other people watching the same show as you at the same time. You can also access Netflix, Pandora, SiriusXM, and Vevo streaming video and music services. There are even simple games like Solitaire, though like most HDTV-based games, they seem like an afterthought.

The biggest new feature in the Hopper 3 is Sports Bar mode. This is a full-screen multi-source viewing mode that lets you watch four channels or DVR recordings at once. Each source takes up a full quarter of the screen, so if you have a 4K HDTV, you can watch four HD channels at the same time. Only the selected screen, marked by a small border, sends out audio, and you can easily switch between them. The mode also works with 1080p HDTVs, displaying each screen in 540p. This is an incredibly useful feature, especially for sports fans or news buffs who want to follow multiple games or reports at once.

Besides Sports Bar mode, you can access a handful of multi-channel viewing modes through the Apps menu. They can show up to six live feeds at once, but the interfaces are very clunky and each screen is shrunk significantly into an overlay menu. These modes might be useful for tracking multiple sports games, but the smaller displays and awkward navigation built into each multi-channel app makes them unpleasant to use. Sports Bar mode is wholly superior to these choices.

Whole-Home and Place-Shifting TelevisionLike previous Hoppers, you can use the Hopper 3 as the centerpiece of a whole-home satellite television system with the addition of Joey set-top boxes. Joeys, including the new 4K Joey (which will have all of the same 4K features as the Hopper 3 as Dish releases them), can access any tuner or recorded DVR content stored on the Hopper from other rooms in your house. With the exception of the Wi-Fi-connected Wireless Joey, Joeys require coaxial cable connections to the Hopper to function.

Thanks to built-in Sling place-shifting functionality, you can watch live and recorded Dish television anywhere outside of your house. The Dish Anywhere app for Android, iOS, and Windows logs into your Hopper 3 over the Internet, letting you access any free tuner to watch live television, or play back any recorded DVR content. It functions identically to the Dish Hopper with Sling, and remains one of the most compelling features of the Hopper 3. I had no problem watching live and recorded programming on my iPad and PC, away from the test lab where the Hopper 3 was installed.

ConclusionsWith a simply ridiculous number of tuners and support for 4K content, the Dish Network Hopper 3 is the new must-have set-top box for satellite television service. The addition of Sports Bar mode helps put those tuners to use by letting you watch four different channels at once on the same screen, a surprisingly useful feature for sports fans and news junkies. There isn't much available over Dish in terms of native 4K content outside of on-demand films and Netflix yet, but the Hopper 3 ensures that you'll be ready when more comes out. It's an easy pick for our Editors' Choice.

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About the Author

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert... See Full Bio

Dish Network Hopper 3

Dish Network Hopper 3

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